In the market for a condo? Ask who owns the street.
A growing number of homeowners in subdivisions have been contacting the mayor’s office — often years after their addition was developed — asking the city to begin maintaining their street, only to learn that it’s usually not possible.
“This is something that has come up several times over the years I’ve been street commissioner,” Scott Hesler told the Board of Public Works and Safety on Wednesday. “We have a lot of private neighborhoods where developers built an area and the city never took over the street.”
The street department is making its list of minimum road standards public, spelling out the requirements that must be in place before the city steps in on street maintenance. The standards are included in a document that will be provided to residents who call.
Among other guidelines, the street must have a proper turnaround for garbage trucks, snow plows and emergency vehicles and meet ADA standards. Drainage and road signs also have to be up to code.
Requests will come before the board. Meeting all of the requirements doesn’t necessarily mean the city will take over maintenance of a privately owned street, Mayor Todd Barton said.
“If you’re considering buying a house, especially a condo, do your homework and ask your questions,” Barton said.
In other business, the board approved a request from Zionsville-based RLTurner Corp. to withdraw its bid for the Kathleen J. Steele Park project. The company was the lowest bidder among four other firms.
Last week, the board awarded a contract to the second-lowest bidder, Spencer Construction of Lafayette. Under Indiana public bidding law, governments are required to select the lowest and most responsive bid, which means a company could be selected without offering the cheapest price.
Spencer’s bid came in more than $12,200 higher than RLTurner’s.
City operations director Dale Petrie said Spencer was “very highly recommended” by the Tippecanoe School Corp. and other agencies during a references check.
RLTurner representatives complained to the city after learning it would not receive the contract. With its bid off the table, Spencer’s is now considered the lowest price.
In addition to withdrawing the bid, the board approved Petrie’s recommendation to release RLTurner from bid bonds legally binding the company to the project.
In a statement, RLTurner spokesperson Layne Cameron said that “in order to prevent litigation based on the city’s actions, we offered the option of withdrawing our bid with the stipulation that our bid bond would not be pulled.”
“This wasn’t our desired outcome, especially based on our relationship we thought we had with the city on past projects,” Cameron added.
The company was the contractor for Pike Place and the Dr. Philip Q. Michal Trailhead Park.
Construction on Steele Park is scheduled to begin this fall and is expected to be complete by the end of June, Petrie said. The renovations are being funded by a private donor through the Montgomery County Community Foundation.
The board also:
• Approved a one year, $700 license agreement with the Edward Lowe Foundation for business owner roundtable discussions at Fusion 54.
• Approved mowing and trash removal requests for properties at 612 Spann Ave. owned by Jeff Hole and 1009 Tuttle Ave. owned by Patty Busse.
